The Vanilla World View

2004-08-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Let The Transformation Begin

It's time.....I said I would do this, and now that's exactly what I'll do. I've cast off the trappings of routine, of career, and I'm going to reappear two weeks hence at least 2000 miles from where I am right now.

My transformation begins tomorrow. When I next post, I will have begun a new lifetime......this may in fact be the seventh one so far. But does it matter? One must morph the life until one reaches the destination.

Musically I will also have a slightly different sound...but hopefully the message will be the same. I'm a slave to the Metaphysics of Love.....

Blessings. Until later......

2004-07-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Love, Evolution, and Destiny Paths (in progress)

When we start to think of purpose, about why we're here and what we're supposed to do, it's easy for us to feel disoriented and confused, even nihilistic. Perhaps the following will help make you realize that everything is here for a reason.....that we are here for a reason.

Love, first of all, is an energy...actually, it's many different levels of energy, depending on intent, level of activation, and interaction. Love is a renewing force, a force that heals, uplifts, energizes; it's even a balm for the spirit. We humans are here on earth with a soul kernel, a spiritual package that we must open, unfold, and develop....it's the way we transcend death, the way we live longer, the way we live forever.

But we aren't meant to do this solo. Instead, we must engage in a symbiotic relationship with another, and in this relationship we exchange love energies, amplifying them and making them more effective by ricocheting them back and forth. If you see Love as a means of merely reproducing, you've got it wrong. Lust takes care of that...a lower form of the Love energy, a semi-cinnamon form, it operates quite effectively. But at the higher levels, Love is intended for much more ambitious purposes.

Simply put, love is the energy we use to save ourselves, and we save ourselves by saving others in soul-mate relationships. Interestingly enough, I suspect that the soul mates we meet in our lives are pre-ordained...they're waiting for us as we weave our destiny.

But what makes a Soul Mate? A Soul Mate is one whose Destiny Path resonates harmoniously with ours. I can't really get too detailed as to the why and the wherefore.....I can only say that your Destiny Path is like a guitar string, a string that is "played" when you interact with others. When the Paths mesh, or resonate, you make friends, fall in love, find your Soul Mate; when the Paths clash, you find conflict and struggle...but of course you should really walk away when there is a dissonance. This may explain friendship, enemies, War, Peace...but that's another chapter.

The "need to be loved" is a physical thing, yes, and should not be overlooked, as pleasure also contributes to positive energy, it also heals, and it also helps a person momentarily transcend the terrestrial level of thought.

But the need to be loved is also a spiritual thing, the soul's crying out for development, for unfolding, for realization, for fulfillment. It may also be a catalyst that forces one to change what one does in order to "get back on the Destiny Path" from which one may have strayed.

And yes, just because there is a Destiny Path doesn't mean that you'll follow it with your eyes closed. If you ignore the "road signs" that appear throughout your life, hints for you to do a certain thing, then you swerve into a dead-end, a life path that ends in unhappiness, dissatisfaction, a lack of fulfillment, even the loss of the soul. For if the soul doesn't develop, then it's finito when you die...the soul hasn't developed its wings sufficiently to "persist" after the death of the physical body.

The implications of what I have said above are enormous.....they even explain many of the concepts of our organized religions that we may accept, but may not understand. For most of our held beliefs are a true part of a vast metaphysical jigsaw puzzle.

And Love is the key, the mover, the motivator. Love is religion. Sex is associated with love, so sex too is religion, and shouldn't be kicked out of religious discussion. Add the sensual to the spiritual, and you made the two halves whole again...you've healed the Great Schism that has made our civilization so unhappy and unable to answer those eternally unanswerable questions.

2004-07-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Chart Stoppers

I took a minute to check the chart action on the Web......

"Rock It Forward" is up to #2 in the Rock charts. Maybe the new improved sound has something to do with it. And now I added a "tail to the dragon"...ha ha....

"Dance It Forward" is at #3 in the Dance charts, but holding steady.

"Listen To My Whisper" has pretty much lost steam on the rap charts.

2004-07-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

Global Remastering To Begin

After a series of sound tests with different speakers and systems, I believe that we have managed to ramp up the sound quality of our music files by as much as 200%....check out "Rock It Forward", a sixth-wave track that I created from scratch using this standard.

Now the fun really begins....I will systematically remaster ALL of my previously released tracks. Only tracks from waves One and Two will, because of the way they were created, manage just a 100% quality increase. But that's still progress....

Yes, I'm relentless.....but one only achieves a goal by taking on the energy of an overwhelming force....

2004-07-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Remastering Game

My sound guru has been working with me lately in improving the sound quality of my music, easily the #1 problem as I see it. Over the next two weeks we will run some tests, with the new song, "Work The Forward Love" being the guinea pig. If we get the results we want, I will go back and remaster virtually everything I have released...you see, I do in fact live by that Manifesto. Those who have bought my other CDs will receive remastered versions of these CDs automatically......at my expense.

"Listen To My Whisper" made it to #3, but that's as far as it will go. So much for my target practice...although my latest song could do better. I'm actually more worried about the mixing game, about ramping the sound quality up...because my next focus is going to require all of the production power I can muster......more on that later.

2004-06-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

The Cyber Artist’s Revolutionary Manifesto

I, Sassure, realize that, with the advent of the Web, Digital Music Sharing, and a commercially feasible Digital Music Download model, I cannot, and will not, follow the methods and procedures used by brick-and-mortar recording artists whether today or in ages past. Everything has changed; the rules of the past have no relevance now.

First, I will release new songs whenever and however I please. I will not release a new CD every year or two years, and I will not wait until I have enough songs for a new CD. If I wish to release a single song, I will; if I wish to release a pair of songs, I will.

Second, when I am technologically competent to improve the sounds of my songs, or the arrangement of my songs, I will replace my songs with new and improved versions; I will do so whenever I wish. My work is a work-in-progress.....there is never any FINAL form of a song. I can add to it at will; I can change it at will. Let music historians sort the rest out.....

Third, I will sell my music whenever and however I please. I will sell my music at multiple sites if I wish; only by contract will I agree to release my music through a single distribution source. I am now in control of my music; I am therefore now in control of how that music is distributed.

Fourth, I will charge whatever I wish for my music, whenever I wish. I may lower the price of a CD from one day to the next, or I may raise it, or I may simply make a song or CD free for promotional purposes. As creator of my music, I need not explain or justify how I sell or distribute it.

Fifth, I will allow fans of my music to download my songs and create compilations of their own devising. I will have my own groupings of released songs, and if I wish I will group them in order to better organize them chronologically, but I will not expect fans to do the same.

Sixth, I will seek to improve the quality of the CDs my fans create. I will seek a software package that will reverse-render downloaded MP3s into original or near-original WAV files so that, when burned, the CDs will have a sound quality equivalent to what is available from the brick-and-mortar stores.

Seventh, I will create an image of my own devising, or none at all, to represent me, in order to preserve my rights of privacy. My age will be whatever I determine it to be. Let those who listen to my music decide if it's the right "age" for them.

Eight, I will decide if, when, and how any live performances will take place to support the music that is available online. The old model was to tour and play songs in concert in order to become better known. The new model understands that my online presence and distribution of my music is equivalent to the old model's relentless touring and performing. Under the new model, I will perform live if I wish, and I will tour if I wish, to support my music that has already proven itself online.

Nine, this new model of music distribution means that I am in control of my expenditures. If I wish to hire a lawyer, I will, but I will not be bound to do so in order to perpetuate the old model's unfair and outrageously uneven compensation structure. My hiring of a manager, of a promoter, of a legal adviser, will be done as necessary, not as a de facto requirement.

Finally, ten, I declare that, as a cyber-artist in an online world that spans global markets, I am working on a tabula rasa, a blank slate. It's a new world now, and what fixtures, agreements, arrangements, partnerships, and collaborations I may initiate or create will be from scratch, will occur on a level playing field. I will not recognize the applicability of older-model structures and arrangements to this new environment.

Rather than simply a corollary or addendum to the brick-and-mortar music world, I wish to declare that the online Digital Music Revolution is an entity unto itself, that it must develop as a separate entity, and that those of us who wish to work solely within this revolutionary entity must not feel compelled to justify our new-model existence based on old-model standards.

This document, created June 29, 2004, may be revised at any time. Like my music, this manifesto is a work-in-progress. Like my music, this Revolution is a work-in-progress.

--Sassure,
Boston

2004-06-25T04:03:00.000-07:00

Dancing It Forward

You may not have noticed, but I replaced the "Dance It Forward" MP3 on the site with an improved version. Doing something like this would have been unheard-of just a couple of years ago. I expect this sort of thing to be pretty common practice...at least once the Revolution is fully underway.

I may put together some sort of Digital Music Manifesto, a summation of what once was, but now is no longer, and a summation of what is to come, and what will become standard practice.

It's a new dawn......well, it worked when Grace Slick said it at Woodstock......

2004-06-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

Slow As We Go

I have no pose. I have no game,
Only Love, steady force, Nature force,
Midnight power.
Counting every strand of your hair,
Sparking fragrant skin everywhere,
Slow as we go....

Ebb and flow, the
Ocean of your Love, the
Coral of your soul
I lean upon, I set on fire.
I swim beneath the stars
But rising higher,
Electric rings of Ethereal Desire,
Slow as we go....

Breathe with me forever
Flower Love, misty dream.
You waver here before me in a
Creamy haze of majesty.
I love the whole of you, the
Fine control of you, the
Silky essence of the Dance you do,
Slow as we go,
Slow as we go....

2004-06-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

Steady As We Go

I just found out that "Tantric Night Flight" was in the Indiejukebox Top 20 for May....which is why I haven't yanked it from the site yet....it and "Approaching Nirvana" are both top downloads for the Vanilla World View CD. My instrumental, "Mesmerism", has fared pretty well too...soon I'll have it on CNET's music.download.com site.

There's been a lot of reaction to "The Way The Music Died", a PBS special that recently aired. I don't know about music dying, but things are about to change in ways you would never imagine. I see a ton of digital music download sites active by mid-2005.....then the major record labels will begin partnering with the most successful, and there will be a huge shift away from the old way of making CDs. For one thing, you'll be able to order a CD with a lineup of songs you choose. Artists themselves will release songs on a regular basis, instead of every time Halley's Comet passes. And so on and so forth....

As my own hour of transformation approaches, I am trying to wrap up the Dance It Forward CD......to that end I am adding in a new one, "Love Ascension"...or at least I will when I finish the thing. Since I'm looking at twelve tracks, I will therefore toss one out as well.....easy come, easy go.....though they may show up in a later incarnation, a later project.

2004-05-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

The Fifth Wave: A Prelude

The Fifth Wave is about to launch.....in the next few days I will be posting the first song, "Listen To My Whisper" -- after I iron a few kinks out. Though it will be the first publicly posted song, it's actually the second -- "The Bridges That Lead To You" is too low-key and unusual to be a lead-off song, so I'm holding it back.

"Listen To My Whisper" in a beta-beta form can be found on Soundclick, if you simply can't wait. A rap/dance/pop whirligig, the thing by its very audacity will probably garner some attention.

Plans for the Fifth Wave include "Back To San Francisco", a multi-part track that will feature some strange, technical pyrotechnics, as well as an anthem to be called "Love Ascension"......the songs in general will be more low-key, but much more elaborate in construction, with more special effects. There will be two exceptions: "Listen To My Whisper", which will replace "Unfold Me" on the DANCE IT FORWARD track lineup; and a yet-to-be-named track that will be a little experiment of mine.....

By the way, I'm glad I didn't hype the "#1 with a bullet" prediction for "Echo You" too strenuously.......my spirit superiors apparently decided to stop my impertinence, so they broke the MP3 charts site...and it's still broken, after well over three weeks! I can take the hint.......maybe I was supposed to wait until the start of the Fifth Wave.

2004-05-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Bits And Pieces

Two items of note:

1. The Fifth Wave will begin soon with "The Bridges That Lead To You", a song that will highlight a few evolutions my sound has taken. The direction will be a bit different, as always. "same old same old" doesn't apply here.....'what the hell is that?" is more my style.....

2. In my effort to out-hype Hype itself, I'll release "Echo You" soon...you know, the track that I predicted will reach #1 in the Web charts within 60 days.....which won't be easy, considering that the #1 song is up in the stratosphere. We'll see......

2004-05-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Dance It Forward: The CD

Soon the Dance It Forward CD will be ready to go with Amazon. To help give it a little boost I am going to release a new song, entitled "Echo You", that I think may go all the way to #1. Remember the old baseball story about Babe Ruth's pointing to the bleachers and saying he would hit a home run "there", and then doing that very thing? To show you the force of one human will, I am going to do the same thing....with a single song. Check back for launch time.....

To keep things in perpective, the songs on this dance CD are all linear, of course, and they all amplify certain elements of my theory of Destiny Paths. As I said, I want to redefine the purpose of music, bring back the importance of the message without spoiling the fun."Dance It Forward"? The point here is that two mirroring energy generators are better than one, that dancing/living/loving is a passionate manifestation of positive energy, of Love energy -- be it Vanilla, Cinnamon, or Ginger. The purpose of "soul mates" is to catalyze our spiritual development by providing a echo-mirror energy boost through a kindred soul, through someone with whom you have had contact many times over past lifetimes, souls whom you touch, energize, and then ascend......

The CD will contain 11 tracks.....9 full-scale dance numbers, and 2 chill-out intermezzos. Those two, "Cinnamon Talk" and "Vanilla Love", are obviously about the two Love energies...one is a chill-out bossa nova tour de force, and was a whole lot of fun to put together. You'll find a lot better harmonizing here as well. One song, "Learning The Dance", is actually a three-song medley......

The past six months have been draining for me, it's true, but 2004 isn't exactly an ordinary year.....and you'll find out why soon enough.....for that matter, so will I......

2004-04-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

That Dance Song

"That" dance song is "Dance It Forward", my contribution to the Deep House world repository, a song that has gotten me quite a bit of fan mail. There are two versions floating around cyberspace, one shorter and one longer. The shorter one is actually a beta, lacking the semi-alternate-universe ending that in a way is what makes the song really take off. So don't say I didn't warn you.....

So that's two dance tracks, one at #5 and the other, "Tantric Night Flight", at #12 in the Web mp3 dance charts. And "Maybe It's Magic" at #6 in the rock charts, and "When She Returns" at #5 in the pop charts.

And now THE VANILLA WORLD VIEW CD has at last been released on cdbaby. Made up of third and fourth-wave songs, this CD is a great evolutionary step beyond LINEAR LOVE, though LINEAR LOVE is also a great step beyond my first, TANTRIC RAINBOWS. If I can, I'll pull that first one and get it out of circulation...maybe I'll upgrade the whole thing. But I have too many other projects going right at the moment.

My next project is a sexual-spiritual dance CD. I do like deep house, and I have some ideas that I'd like to try out in that genre. I had planned on an all-acoustic CD, but that one will have to wait..........

2004-04-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Track List: The Vanilla World View CD

1. intro: the vanilla world view

2. when she returns

3. ginger love

4. parallel lives

5. touching me

6. lovespice

7. rainbows fall apart in pairs

8. maybe it's magic

9. the balance of love

10. the changes

11. master me

12. rock the meditation: come back to the aura

13. meet me in the criss cross

14. precision

15. you're not innocent tonight

16. the ecstasy

17. tantric night flight

18. approaching nirvana

2004-03-31T06:16:00.000-08:00

The Vanilla World View CD

I'll be releasing the Vanilla World View CD by the beginning of April. A combination of third-wave and fourth-wave songs, with a spoken introduction and a guided meditation and a mantra to boot, this CD will contain 18 songs, including as-yet unreleased third-wave songs like "Precision", "You're Not Innocent Tonight", and "Master Me"; and including new fourth-wave songs like "Lovespice" and "Touching Me". In a sudden reversal, I've decided to go once again with cdbaby...LINEAR LOVE is starting to make some noise over there, and I don't want things to quiet down any time soon.....

One thing should be evident by now: the new digital music revolution and the Web have made it possible for me to evolve at warp speed. For any normal band at any time up till now, the evolution represented by these four waves of songs would ordinarily require four years to transpire...not less than a year. The norm now is for an artist to release a CD, and then two years down the road to finally release another -- when his listeners have already moved on, or joined cults, or gone new age, or run for President......but that is about to change. Everything you've come to expect as normal will be tuned upside-down. Perhaps I will be partly responsible. Perhaps I am merely irresponsible.

Is there such a thing as an indomitable Will? If one directs this Force and warps his own destiny path, what will be the result? Since last September I've been doing exactly that. Only time will tell what the Will of a single individual is capable of.....

2004-03-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

Destiny Paths

When we speak of Destiny, what are we really talking about?

Are we talking about a controlling intelligent God force that moves us as one would move chess pieces?

Are we talking about some uniquely encoded "spiritual DNA" that each of us possesses, containing info about our past lives and spiritual development?

Are we talking about a future that we, using our Force of Will, can make a reality?

Or perhaps we are talking about the future that we, guided by the mechanistic forces around us, are being pushed towards. Our birth circumstances, our parents, our geographic location, and numerous other factors combine to limit what each of us can do, to point us in a particular direction.

Those of us who develop and possess a powerful Force of Will may be able to break away from a future imposed upon us by our naturalistic, deterministic environment.

******************
I imagine that each of us threads a labyrinth, following a pathway marked out for us by reality, by nature, by our birth, by our parentage, by our culture. The path we follow is flanked by rather high walls on either side, so we can't easily change paths.

By a concentrated act of will, we may be able to scale those walls and fall into a different path...a path which is now based upon both our background AND the fact that we scaled the wall through an act of will. We have therefore, in a sense, taken a "turn" on our Destiny Path.

The Hindu caste system appears to be a reflection of this determinism -- though one can't "scale the wall" until one dies and is reborn. A glance at http://www.naturalism.org makes me realize that there are similar schools of thought here as well.

2004-03-11T05:33:00.000-08:00

The Fourth Wave Continues

"Approaching Nirvana", which is really what the Vanilla World View is all about, marks my second foray into the Fourth Wave project activities. I usually don't mix waves, but I will make this piece the final track of the Vanilla World View CD.

And in a blast from the past, I just learned that "21 Candles", the final track from the LINEAR LOVE CD, is one of the top downloads in Germany and Austria. That's really nice to hear, especially since those two countries are favorites of mine and have been for many years now.

I am looking into acquiring a Seagull acoustic guitar soon, as some of my Fourth Wave plans call for some acoustical musical experiments. But for now, we're in the process of moving out of the Vanilla Shack. There's a "destiny path divergence" ahead, and I have to be ready.....more later.

2004-03-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Preamble: The Fourth Wave

Soon I'll be posting a song, "When She Returns", that will herald the beginning of the Fourth Wave. Think of each wave as an evolution, a progression, a slow-but-sure propulsion towards the Aim, the Goal. Driven by Will, by personal force, we can heal ourselves, we can create Love, we can create connections, we can bend the threads of Destiny. The forward progression here will be relentless, just as you must relentlessly push to evolve your soul. The Fourth Wave will incorporate sublimation, subtlety, but you will be able to feel a gradual gathering of strength........

2004-02-26T08:03:00.000-08:00

The Purpose Of Love

We can wang chung all day about how wonderful Love is, but why does it exist in the first place?

Some say that it's just an emotional adjunct to the physical reproductive process.

Some say that it is the "language" we use to communicate/interact with God, or the God force.

I see the validity of both points of view. But there's yet another:

Love is the force we use to reproduce spiritually. Applying this force on others, we are in effect applying it upon ourselves...resulting in both mind expansion as well as soul expansion, soul development. The more soul development we have, the higher planes of consciousness we reach; when we reach the planes of consciousness that transcend the physical, then we are "reproducing" ourselves on a plane that won't disappear or dissipate when the physical body gives up the ghost.

This, I believe, is the truly cosmic purpose of Love.

2004-02-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Where The Music Is Heading

I listened to a new CD by a quite talented singer recently....but, although her voice was wonderful and the music was dreamy, the songs were repetitive to the point where, after the first minute, I was compelled to skip ahead to the last 30 seconds, knowing that I wouldn't miss anything. That, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with today's music.

Rap may have its imperfections, but it does make one valuable contribution: it tends, by its very nature, to be linear...the songs don't repeat much because the rap must move forward.

Taking that as a cue, I created LINEAR LOVE, the second-wave CD, merging rap with a few mainstream pop elements. The results were better than I had anticipated.

So the next step is to apply the linearity of rap to the pop-song structure...but I've been doing that already for some time now. I'm just tweaking out other issues like sound problems, vocal syncs, keyboard arrangements, endings, ta-da ta-da. Progress is being made, happily. The Vanilla World View CD, the Third Wave CD, is in an alpha state of completeness.

From here on out, any donations that are received at the Vanilla Shack, c/o Dan Gallagher, 344 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472, will be answered with a mailed-out Vanilla World View CD.....but there's one twist. No two CDs mailed out will be the same. Some will include songs that may never see the light of day. New heavy artillery such as "Tantric Night Flight" and "Master Me" will be included as well.

2004 is heating up, and, as "The Changes" shows, the time for action is imminent. Life and art here at the Shack are relentlessly intertwined.....for, as the lyrics say, "I'm moving out"......that is, we're selling the Shack and moving closer to where crucial events will take place later in the year. The site, however, will be unaffected....you know, "Sailing To Byzantium" and all that stuff......

2004-02-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Lyric Cafe: Meet Me In The Criss Cross

Bend with me, but just don't break
The future's cords we helped create;
Like a net we go catching Love
As it sails through time,
Made and radiated fine,
A see-through glass we can't define.

Meet me in the Criss Cross;
I'll meet you very soon;
The threads are weaving tighter;
Our lives are coming closer;
I'll meet you in the first array of June.....

Flow with me
But just don't drift
Away from Destiny,
Away from where I'll be,
To ride down
Some forgotten stream
Where nothing holds,
Where angels don't belong.

Meet me in the Criss Cross;
I'll meet you by the sea.
We'll travel to an island
Of What's To Be.
Meet me in the Criss Cross,
Eternity of you and me,
Together in the mesh of time,
The Web of Destiny.

They say each of us
Has seven Soul Mates;
I know you're my lucky four.
The wheels of Love turn onward;
The spin is what I'm waiting for......
Meet me at the Criss Cross......

2004-02-04T07:19:00.000-08:00

Ruminations

The theory of Love and Destiny -- the upshot of which is that Love is a "catalyst energy" that both pushes us forward along our Destiny path and helps develop the soul so that it reaches higher planes of consciousness -- will appear from time to time in the songs. Though it's most noticeable in "Meet Me At The Criss Cross", it's also part of "The Tropic Of Everywhere", and it even forms the backdrop for "Linear Love". What's most interesting is that the labyrinthine paths of our destiny have multiple threads...so that there are a number of possible futures, not merely one...a complication that time travelers will have to face if they ever attempt to "travel" into the future. For the paths, the lines, the threads of the labyrinth may also morph...but the extent of this is as yet unclear.

Possibly the next song in the Third Wave cycle will be "You're Not Innocent Tonight"....I do know that the final song in this cycle will be "The Next Dimension"....the point is that during Ignition I will continue to ramp up the music, progressively....and share it on the site.

"You're Not Innocent Tonight" will appear in two versions....but for full effect, the listener will need to listen to both versions to create a triangulation: listen to version one, then two, then one again. One version is contemplative, one is kinetic. Spirituality and sexuality are actually interreferenced states of awareness and transcendence; both have a significant impact upon the thread of one's Destiny, the path of one's soul.

2004-01-30T04:25:00.000-08:00

Love And Destiny: A Prophecy In Song?

One of the songs that will appear on the upcoming Vanilla World View CD is entitled, "Meet Me At The Criss Cross", which is both an elaboration of the Lines Of Destiny theory and an experiment. As I've mentioned before, I don't write songs as someone would make shoes....the things come to me, they're in a sense dictated to me. So I'm setting down the lyrics for the song, and when I'm done I look back over them and notice that they refer to an intended meeting with a future Soul Mate. They specifically point out that for me this Soul Mate will be my fourth, and that I will meet her "in the first array of June". They also call this one my "lucky four".

Needless to say, I was quite intrigued. I have in fact met three Soul Mates in my life so far. Why am I fated to cross paths with number four?

And frankly, I can't tell you what days are covered by "the first array of June".....I'm assuming that perhaps this is a reference to the first moon cycle. And is it THIS June?

I don't know.....but this song has become both prophecy and experiment. Imagine being able to know in advance of impending meetings with individuals who will play a significant role in one's life......

I now know that Love is not just a superficial adjunct to sex and reproduction...it's actually a mechanism for advancing one spiritually along a Progress Path towards a higher consciousness. Our Soul Mates are "chosen" (?) to specifically help us evolve, and it behooves us to intersect Life Paths with them if at all possible.

You must heed the "signs" when they appear, and when a change in your life is signaled, don't resist it. I haven't so far, and it's cost me dearly in human terms, but I think I've gained immeasurably in spiritual terms.

The Search is ongoing, and continues......

2004-01-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Theory: Love and Destiny

From experience and observation, I've concluded that we are allotted more than one soul mate in a given incarnation (at least one mystical text says we are allotted seven). You may meet all of them, or you may meet only one of them. Part of this may be due to the nature of your previous incarnations, but there's another, more esoteric side to the coin.

What you are destined to do depends upon the choices you make when you come to what I call "metaphysical forks in the path", or moments in your life when faced with the chance to change the "course" of your life. An individual's destiny may in fact be several paths, each leading to at least one soul mate, to an eventual fate. I don't know exactly how the thing works, but I have a feeling that, when presented with the chance to make a major change in your life, you are supposed to take the hint and take that different direction. The path you leave behind is in fact a "dead end" destiny; many who complain that their lives are empty are doing so because they didn't take the right turn at the right place.....

There may an even deeper level at work here: the path you take when you come to a "fork" in your life's road may actually depend upon how much you have developed spiritually. Love is more than simply a physical sensation - it's a mystical force as well. What may be happening here is that "soul mates" are supposed to "develop" each other through exchanging the love energy, allowing them to move forward to the next destined branch, which may be leading to a higher level of awareness and experience.

More on this later.....

2004-01-23T08:27:00.000-08:00

Expansion; Ignition Continues; Rock The Meditation

We've expanded the Vanilla World View site server space by 100% so larger music files will fit; in fact, for this reason I'm finally able to make "Rock The Meditation: Come Back To The Aura" available for the first time. Sometime soon I'll post another song, "Maybe It's Magic".

When listening to "Come Back To The Aura", you may notice that the lyrics include three Greek letters. There's a mystical reason behind this; I'll reveal more details when the appropriate moment presents itself.....

Ignition still continues apace, and hopefully before too long I can announce that we're entering the "full revolution" phase. But there's till a lot of noise to make first....

Within 72 hours the Vanilla World View Site will be accessible via the www.sassure.com domain name....when accessibility is the objective, getting a domain is the corrective.

2004-01-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

Lyrics: Rainbows Fall Apart In Pairs

Wouldn't it be nice
to stop repeating, repeating
the lines an actor knows too well,
the thoughts encased in a shell --
that can't be touched, or modified
as we grow in knowledge, fortified
by the seekers' openness to change,
the need to morph the daily pain
into a purpose, a line of code,
a destined, mystic road.

Rainbows fall apart in pairs,
the pleasure palace
mirrored by the castle of despair,
the lack of trust, of reason's calm,
instead preferring chaos
in the platitudes of prayer.
Rainbows fall apart in pairs.

The more a shell contains, the less it yields;
you can't return to Strawberry Fields.....

2004-01-18T19:22:00.000-08:00

Getting Metaphysical

Next on the projects list for 2004 is the Vanilla World View CD, a speech-and-song concept CD that will push the musical envelope into rarely-visited territory. One example is a piece called "Rock The Meditation: Come To The Aura", which is exactly what it appears to be....its intention is to lengthen your life, develop your soul. Based upon an exercise I use derived from The Vanilla World View, this "song" -- the longest recording I've ever made -- may well have supernatural consequences.....

Note that I refer to metaphysics, not religion. "Religion" is a loaded word semantically, evoking taught responses from each of us instead of sincere, open-minded reactions. "Metaphysics" is still a referent to a forum for discussion. You've heard of religious persecution, of religious wars, but have you ever heard of metaphysical persecution? Of metaphysical wars?

Religion is a human imposition of a metaphysical template upon a mass population. We must realize that we have yet to find the true template.....but instead of seeking together, we fight over unproven concepts. The Vanilla World View is that we are still in seeker mode, but that technologically and rationally we can put together a system of ideas that will prove valuable. The benefits of Love Energy, and Practical Immortality, are both here and now.....and that's not a bad start. But we have to peel off the labels and let go of the baggage.

2004-01-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

LINEAR LOVE Released

My Digital Revolution-ary CD, LINEAR LOVE, has finally been released on cdbaby.com. I suppose you could call the CD's genres "metaphysical rap", "metaphysical jazz", "metaphysical dance", and -- in the case of "Eros" -- "metaphysical sex". The songs are all in the linear-song format -- that is, they develop, they don't repeat.

And in keeping with my penchant for never doing the expected thing, I am putting up a new song, "Wait For Me", which is as yet not on any CD whatsoever.

The premise of the Vanilla World View is that, now that we've made it to the 21st century, we are starting to revaluate everything we've ever believed metaphysically. We need to start with a few basic, scientific assumptions, based on what we know of energy and its properties, on what we know of personal energy, the human will.....and we can build on that. Instead of simply talking about Love, we should be talking about Love Energy, about the force it creates and how that force can best be directed. Believe it or not, we can solve nearly all of the current un-solveable problems plaguing humanity if we just adhere to a few fundamental principles, if we reject the "team" concept and think in terms of simple cooperation and mutual compassion.

Ignition has begun.

2004-01-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

Pre-Flight

Up until this week we've been learning, experiencing, growing, exerting a raw force of will to achieve an objective. The First Wave was necessary, a novitiate of sorts. The Second Wave was an application of our energies to preparing for 2004, and all that is bound to occur during this year. The third wave is the stage of ignition. Exactly what this stage entails will be made clear as January moves into February......

In "Audio Revolver", the first third-wave song, I talk about creating "a diamond from a grain of sand".....which is exactly what The Vanilla World View is all about.

2004-01-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

Random Bits

"The Moment (For A Revolution)" has settled down to #8 in the Web mp3 rap charts, and "The Tropic Of Everywhere" is holding at #13 in the dance charts.....but "Audio Revolver" has skyrocketed to #3 in the rock charts.....the first Third-Wave song has taken flight. See http://www.mp3charts.com/RKcharts.htm....

I've been working on a new song, "Ginger Love", that features a new sound paradigm...which is a good thing, because it breaks just about every rule in the music book. So I am pleased....

Some of my songs are now available via Clearchannel's New Music Network.....and if I have something new that fits the venue over there, I'll send it along.....

When LINEAR LOVE is released this week, I'll begin removing a number of my second-wave songs from sites around the Web.....to make way for the Third Wave stuff.

2004-01-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Linear Love Release Imminent

The new CD, entitled LINEAR LOVE, will probably be released early next week. Concept-oriented and dedicated to the Digital Music Revolution, this album will feature 14 linear songs, including a five-song "metaphysical seduction sequence" that may be unlike anything you've ever heard before. Manifesting a process whereby cinnamon love energy is transformed into vanilla love energy, this sequence has suggested further projects involving the morphing dynamic, though there is as yet one other type of love energy that will be explored more in the future.

Thanks to the Sound Guru, the new CD will feature improved production...though as I said, every project will always be a progression over what has come before. As the title song says, "straight ahead -- never take the same road again".....

2003-12-29T07:05:00.000-08:00

The Metaphysical Eros Experiment

I've mentioned before that Love energy is a potent force that can be channeled beyond the mere act of love itself....which in a sense led to what we're starting to refer to as the Metaphysical Seduction Trilogy: "You Walk In Magic", "The Tropic Of Everywhere", and last -- but certainly not least -- "Eros". Most seductive love songs attempt to create Eros energy, one of the most powerful positive creational energies in the universe, but "Eros" actually invokes the Love God, making for some very earth-moving musical moments.

The blueprint below has already been updated, and will no doubt be updated even more as 2004 begins.....I just read in the San Francisco Chronicle that 2004 will be the dawn of a whole new era in music. But it will be a whole lot more than that......

2003-12-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

Blueprint: Linear Love

The song lineup for the upcoming CD, LINEAR LOVE, the first major salvo of the Digital Music Revolution, is as follows:

1. Linear Love
2. The Moment (For A Revolution)
3. I'm On My Way (To You)
4. You Walk In Magic
5. The Tropic Of Everywhere
6. Eros
7. Purified
8. 3,000 Syllables Of Love
9. Butterscotch
10. Street Lady
11. Just Enough Experience
12. Swirl
13. Tidal Lover
14. 21 Candles

I won't add any additional comments at this time. Suffice it to say that we're going to make a lot of noise in 2004...you can think of it as an energy experiment, a putting into practice what is taught in the Vanilla World View: Second Edition.

2003-12-22T06:57:00.000-08:00

The New Year Draws Near

The new year draws near, and it's a time of great excitement here at the Shack. I'm consulting with some Sound gurus to improve the sound of the music......which is necessary because the new collection, which will be called LINEAR LOVE, will be released during 2004. The title song is a five-movement anthem that defines what in today's music I'm taking aim at....the songs that follow illustrate this revolutionary new song concept. With a new genre and a new song model, LINEAR LOVE will have all the cohesion and consistency that TANTRIC RAINBOWS lacks, though RAINBOWS has its share of nuggets.

Of course, we aren't living under a rock. With the advent of the Digital Music Revolution, there will be hundreds of new independent music offerings flooding the Web....and that's really a good thing. But the Web hasn't seen anything yet...

On the metaphysical front, I'm theorizing about the nature of what I like to call our Personal Destiny, and I've come to the conclusion that, while the past is past -- a completed event that can be revisited -- the future is a morphable uncertainty held together by what I call Destiny Lines, or Lines of Fate. These Lines are like cables that we, the trolley cars, run on, lines that guide us. We can alter our future by changing lines, by choosing different paths.....but the paths lead in the direction that has, in a sense, already been encoded for us. Thus we can in a sense predict the future, but WE CAN'T GO THERE.

These Lines exist in a higher dimension, so we can't see them. But through a series of deductions and inductions we can get some idea of their existence.....

2003-12-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

Energy Levels And Songs

Call it a hierarchy of sorts, but there are shades and degrees of negative and positive energy. As I mention in The Vanilla World View, negative energy level 1 is simply negative; level 2 can be called demonic; level 3 can be called satanic. Positive energy level 1 is simply positive; level 2 can be called beatific; level 3 can be called angelic. Some will say that this list isn't symmetrical...but then neither is the hierarchy of Heaven and Hell.

While "Crumble (The Hanged Man)" hits some pretty forceful peaks of negative energy, at times emanating an almost demonic energy, a new song of mine, "New Vanilla Love", at one point emanates a distinctly powerful beatific energy, a healing energy. While "Heal Me" was originally thought to be a healing song, it turned out to be more a song ABOUT healing than a force that actually caused healing. "New Vanilla Love" does embody that force....though the lyrics don't mention healing at all. Such is our world.

Examining popular music today, very very few songs have anything that can be called healing energy. And the music found in so-called Healing Music CDs are beautifully contemplative, wonderfully serene...but they simply don't "spark" positive energy. Healing energy is not subtle; new age music is, by and large, subtle...call it great meditation music, but not healing music. Since we really aren't in touch with true healing energy, many won't recognize it in "New Vanilla Love". I didn't consciously implant the thing the way a poet might implant a metaphor.....as I've said many times, the songs are "dictated" to me...what develops is what develops.

2003-12-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Bits And More Bits

"The Moment (For A Revolution)" continues at #5 in the rap charts, while "When You've Had Enough" is now #5 on the Web mp3 rock charts. Maybe people want a change at last....so that's a good sign.

Radiotakeover just informed me that "Crumble (The Hanged Man)" has been added to the playlist. Oh well.....

After a really silly session at the Shack, I came up with "3,000 Syllables Of Love", a rap/jazz/cool whatyoucallit that's sure to be a part of the KARMA SOUL CD when the thing finally gets put together.

Don't get too obsessed with Iraq......there's some serious trouble brewing between China-Taiwan that's going to explode if we don't get over our myopia.....the frightening thing about prophecy is that the Players, regardless of the warnings, move straight ahead in a predetermined path to a predetermined fate.....and we watch, helplessly, unable to alter the shape of what's to come.

So we make music, and we fall in love, and somewhere someone is making headlines.....

2003-12-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

Coming Attractions

First, I may soon release my most disturbing Tarot song to date: "Crumble (The Hanged Man)". Easily the most demonic thing I have ever created, this song is informed by a spirit that will give the listener a taste of the bowels of Hell itself. The composition of this song pre-dates composition of "The Lovers", but I have withheld mentioning its existence...until now. If you can't wait, the song is available at the radiotakeover site...but I'll post it here soon enough. The song, like all Tarot songs, requires that I invoke the spirit of that particular arcanum....or perhaps it invokes me. I tried once before to deal with The Hanged Man...the result was that I didn't write another song for ten years. This time around, I fared better.....

On the other hand, "The Sun" and "The World" exude a beatific energy, as do "The Empress" and "The Lovers". "The Moon" is a harmonious blend of the two, a balance found in no other Tarot song.

Second, I'm leaning towards calling my next CD THE VANILLA WORLD VIEW, the same title as the book. As the CD will also be a manifesto of sorts, a revolt, it's only fitting that I link it to its text-and-print cousin. More on this later.....

2003-12-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

Lyrics: When You've Had Enough

When it's over,
When there's no time for waiting,
When it's gone too far,
When you can't walk the same circle,
When you can't talk the same nonsense
When you can't hold on,
When you've had enough,
When you've had enough,

When you know,
You know it's time for action,
It's Time to make a difference,
Time to walk outside the circle,
Time to talk to someone special,
Standing up for Love.

When it's finished,
When it's no longer useful,
When you can't believe in what you're doing,
When you have to make some changes,
When you've had enough,
Then you have to stop pretending,
Then you have to start improving,
Standing up for Love.....

(spoken)
When you've had enough,
Think of the future,
Think of the need to get involved,
The need to raise your voice,
The need to make that choice,
The need to stand up Now......

2003-12-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

Retrospective

In a short two months a lot has happened here at the Shack. As 2004 hoves into view, we're moving forward at warp speed. The Vanilla World View will probably see an expansion, as more and more elaboration is added.

Musically, we've learned a great deal here. Tantric Rainbows has a genre range as wide as the Mississippi, which may discomfit those who seek a narrow genre focus. But that CD was made with a unifying message, a message explained in the book.

The next project is more focused, but the message remains the same. Blessed by improving recording methodologies, we are making better-sounding music now....but of course the sky is the limit here. With the Digital Music Revolution beginning to take off, there is a lot of optimism that great changes are underway, that the old gangrenous economic status quo is about to get turned on its head.

2003-12-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Music Unleashed

I had planned to wait until 1/1/2004, but the momentum is too great right now, and the digital music revolution is fully underway. So I've let loose with some major musical artillery and released two songs to primetones.com and weedstash.com: "Street Lady", a jazz/dance/rap locomotive that I've had in progress for some two months; and "Comet", the hardest-rocking song I've ever written, which I put the finishing touches on last weekend during the blizzard.

As the digital revolution churns into high gear, so will the Vanilla World View, and, as I said, 2004 will be one year to remember.......

2003-12-03T07:25:00.000-08:00

Lyric Cafe: The Moment (For A Revolution)

(The song is still at #5. Listen carefully, and you'll notice that this is also a Linear Song, with no repetition, always developing until the very end. Perhaps the revolution has already begun, no?)

Listen up, and listen well.
I've got a few things to tell you.
We're in a new century now.
I think it's time we decided how
to bring love back into the world,
a positive mind, a comforting word.
What I mean is a solution.
It's the moment -- for a revolution.

Take my hand, and walk this way.
It's the moment for changing.
Get on your feet....get into this motion.
It's the moment for a revolution.

Bad. Boring. What can you say?
We're in a rut, people, rotting away.
Eat, sleep, drink, dream.
The whole circle can make you scream.

When we love, we're an awesome force.
When we love, we can change our course.

Mary had a little lamb
but the Shepherd didn't give a damn
so she climbed the hill until, at last,
she forgot the negative past.
She looked ahead and she saw a star.
It was never really very far.
Just as long as you're ready to climb,
you can live in an incredible time.
You can come to a resolution.
It's the moment -- for a revolution.

What we need is to live right now,
free to change every day somehow.
Do your part.
This new age needs a start.
The power of love is the force of every heart.

Lady, your ways are magic,
make that change, pulse with me,
let's rock, till the day is through,
listen to me, I'll listen to you.
This energy of Love can be
the answer to the darkest force
and we can change our course
change our course.

2003-11-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

2004: Rock The Agenda

With just a month away from 2004, the year of Great Change, we're ramping up the action here, and, musically, we're about to begin pulling out the heavy artillery (pardon the military imagery -- it sounded good at the time).

Plans call for a CD, possibly entitled SOUL KARMA or KARMA SOUL, to be released in early 2004. WATER STAR will follow afterwards, though I'm not sure exactly when.

"The Moment (For A Revolution)" has been making a lot of noise. Currently at #5 in the Web Rap Charts, it is #17 on the national charts for all genres, and it's even made it into the Global Top 100. Despite the title, though, the message is still pretty diplomatic -- we're just getting warmed up. I'm right now defining what I would call a "rap-pop-dance-jazz" genre -- and I'll add more songs to this genre as 2004 begins.

2003-11-26T08:29:00.000-08:00

The World

The latest entry in my Tarot song collection, "The World", is now live and online. One day I will collect all of them in one place.

2003-11-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

Karma Download and Etc

I've just been invited to sign up with the first Online Record Label, karmadownload.com.....so I'll send them a followup track to "The Moment (For A Revolution" that will ramp up the protest factor. Entitled "Teams", it will incorporate one of my slogans, "Where There Are Teams, There Is War".

I first used this slogan in a folk song I wrote fifteen years ago...one day I'll add that song to the site's archives.

Speaking of folk songs, my next project is in fact a return to the roots...a folk song that will be in the protest vein. 2004 is going to be a very good year......

2003-11-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

The Moment (For A Revolution)

I've entered the world of rap -- though many other Vanilla songs have had rap elements -- to come up with "The Moment (For A Revolution)". Having just hit #31 on the Internet mp3 charts, it may well make a little noise.

A little voice told me that 2004 is going to be a year for the history books, a year when a watershed event will occur that will define what is to come for the next decade.....this event will act as a catalyst for this Global Movement For Renewal, of which the Vanilla World View is a part.

2003-11-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

A Linear Christmas Song?

Sometime in the next two weeks I'll be wrapping up work on what I call the World's First Linear Christmas Song. Entitled "Christmas Star", it will, of course, adhere to the second-wave "star" imagery.

Foolish hype? Definitely. But it's true, so I'll take my chances.

I'm also about to upgrade the sound quality of all music sold or released. Like the book, the music is a Work In Progress, so whenever I find a way to improve my work, I'll utilize it immediately.

2003-11-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

Music and Metaphysics

One may well wonder, after reading my work, why I'm emphasizing music so much right now. There are actually two answers to this.

First, the pursuit of peace is the pursuit of harmonic convergence. The pursuit of love is the pursuit of harmonic convergence. The making of music is the creation of harmonic convergences, an interest of mine for many years now.

The time for significant change has just begun. What I'm doing is part of the Vanilla World View agenda, but the role all of this plays will become apparent later. As I have said many times before and in many different places, just keep checking the news.

There is no hocus-pocus involved here: as the title of the site implies, we are simply pursuing a practical, sensible line of action in a time that is becoming increasingly impractical, in a time when the actions of people are becoming increasingly senseless.....

2003-11-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

Tantric Rainbows CD Released

The Tantric Rainbows CD has been released at last. Available through cdbaby.com, it's the record of the first wave, the "sun-fire" wave.

The second wave, the "star-water" wave, has begun. "Possess Me" and "Possession" are songs belonging to this wave. Another song, "Water Star", also belongs, but has not been released anywhere yet.

2003-11-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

Possession

The slower, more intense, more hypnotic companion song to "Possess Me", entitled simply "Possession", is now online. Turn the lights down for this one.......

2003-11-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

Possess Me

The first song of the Second Wave, "Possess Me", is now live and online. This rhythm-heavy number, which is post-Tantric Rainbows, should appear on the next CD.

The Vanilla Shack, where I live and write and make music and create Web sites, was built in the mid-1700s, and it has more ghosts than I've been able to count. The basement, which I believe pre-dates the American Revolution, appears to be the vortex for the manifestations here, though I also sense that many of the spirits here can reveal themselves only in kinetic ways and are not developed enough to manifest themselves visually.

There is a Hessian soldier who has come in through the back door -- and I mean THROUGH the door. Whoever this guy is, he's obviously got quite a "spirit lamp", as he must have died during the late 1770s.

In light of all this, you may wonder why I wrote a song entitled "Possess Me". Believe me, I've asked myself the same question again and again. If you look closely, you'll be able to see all kinds of supernatural influences on the Tantric Rainbows CD. Perhaps some of them are even audible....

2003-11-03T07:40:00.000-08:00

Tantric Rainbows Release Date and News

The Tantric Rainbows CD will be released either this week or next. It will be available through cdbaby.com, but because distribution will be worldwide, it will be found in a great many locales.

Here at the Shack we are moving forward...to the second phase. First, however, in the spirit of the season, there will be a new Christmas song released online, here, soon. I'll make it as linear as possible, though many say there's no such thing as a linear Christmas song. That's a challenge too tempting to pass up.

You may have already realized that the Sun figures heavily in the songs I've posted here so far, and there are references to fire as well. None of this is accidental. For the second phase, the emphasis will be on the Star, and on Water.

2003-10-30T06:24:00.000-08:00

Tantric Rainbows: The Tracks

1. This Vanilla Love Song
2. Cinnamon Love
3. Love Karma
4. Momentum
5. This Free Love
6. Heal Me
7. The Empress Pt. 1
8. The Empress Pt. 2
9. The Pulse Of You
10. Don't Cry With Me
11. Spontaneous
12. Run Away
13. The Moon
14. Tantric Rainbows
15. Tantric Time
16. The Sun

The last addition was "The Pulse Of You", a rhythmic thing that bops merrily along until an eight-miles-high guitar solo rips everything right down the middle. I had to be possessed.....one day I'll have to describe what happened at the Shack at the moment that craziness took place......

2003-10-29T10:29:00.000-08:00

The Tantric Rainbows CD

Tantric Rainbows will be released soon through CD Baby (at cdbaby.com); when it's time I'll provide a hot link on the site to the right page.

The CD will have 16 tracks in all. As a pioneering effort in the "linear song" with its short-but-intense musical structure, this album as a whole will not sound like anything you've played lately.

2003-10-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

Love Karma: Rock The Meditation

The latest from the Vanilla Shack is online: "Love Karma", where I decided to let it rip. After all, yin needs yang, just as calm meditative music needs something that rocks. I pulled "The Empress", but it will appear on the Tantric Rainbows CD, due out soon.

The upcoming CD, "Tantric Rainbows", will have 15 songs, with such new tracks as "The Moon", "Tantric Time" (another song that rocks, with a sitar no less), "The Empress Pt. 2" (vocal version), "Don't Cry With Me" (quiet and emotional), "Momentum", and a number of others. I'll probably release it globally through CD Baby. Right now I'm in the last stages of weeding out unwanted glitches......

Here at the Shack "Tantric Time", the CD's pulsing show-stopper, has proven to be so popular that I may put a second version on the CD (which would make 16 tracks) with extra harmonies and perhaps a little thunderstorm and dynamite as well. If you like "Love Karma", you haven't seen anything yet.....

2003-10-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

Heal Me: The Lyrics

I felt it raining when no rain was there.
My solid footing seemed to slip away.
A heavy heartbeat weighs upon the air.
Some overwhelming force is here today.

Heal me.
Oh guide me.
Heal me
With your Love inside me
(all our ocean Love).

I've stayed awake at night to sort things out.
A sense of sorrow haunts the ground I walk.
Right now I need your comfort-giving talk,
The energizing Love you cast around.

Heal me.
Oh guide me.
Heal me
With your Love inside me
(all our ocean Love).

The stars have blackened in a charcoal sky,
An East wind blows the leaves from every tree,
I can't escape the way the angels cry
When nightmares slay what you believe.

Heal Me......

(lyrics & music: sassure)

2003-10-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

Heal Me

At last, after a near-supernatural experience, "Heal Me", the healing song, has had its genesis. My recommendation is that, after listening to it, you follow up and meditate for 5-10 minutes. I've provided "The Empress" for such a purpose.

I apologize for yanking "Spontaneous", but priorities are priorities. You'll understand when you listen. As for me, I'm nearly spent, but there's much to do still.

2003-10-22T05:07:00.000-07:00

Spontaneous

"Spontaneous" is now live, and "Tantric Rainbows" has been put to pasture.

Note that the songs are short, and intentionally so. And while "Spontaneous" isn't a truly "linear" song, it nevertheless offers surprises up until the last second...a typical Vanilla Shack song feature...and it also lacks a neatly clipped ending. Whoops!

2003-10-21T04:09:00.000-07:00

Studio Genesis

"Spontaneous" will be a mixture of bossa nova and, well, something else. The rhythms of bossa nova usually constrain one to certain melodic progressions, which means that too many of these songs -- beautiful as they are -- wind up sounding as if they had been written by the same person.

The trick here is to have the two parts of the song play off each other, and to give the song a sound that your run-of-the-mill boss nova song doesn't possess. That can be best be carried off by having the two vocal lines counterpoint each other, so that the listener is ready for the change that each part brings....

Further down the road may be perhaps my greatest challenge...a real honest-to-goodness "healing" song. I won't fudge on the title either...the song will be called, simply, "Heal Me." And no, it won't be a hospital lullaby......

2003-10-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

One Step At A Time

Though it may seem completely disconnected, the music offered at this site and the Vanilla World View writings are really quite a part of the overall plan. Here at the Vanilla Shack we don't do the expected. We break the rules freely, happily.

One example is when a listener found "Cinnamon Love" difficult to classify. This listener writes that the song may well be what's played on commercial radio twenty years in the future.

Exactly.....that's what we're doing here, and what we will do more as the project builds momentum. Right now "The Sun", "This Vanilla Love Song", "Tantric Rainbows", and "Cinnamon Love" are on the MP3 charts at different sites on the Web. "This Vanilla Love Song" is #4 on the MP3 pop charts; "Tantric Rainbows" is barely clinging to #39 on the rock charts; "The Sun" is at #9 on the New Age/Easy Listening charts; and "Cinnamon Love" is at #22 on the dance charts. Funny....four songs, four genres.....but that's our imposition of this culture's peg-them-or-else frenetic categorizing mentality.

Currently I'm working on a song, to be called "Spontaneous", which will no doubt be pegged somewhere else. But the lyrics are all interconnected. Oh well.....

2003-10-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon Love

Pull out the Dialogue of Romance and click on the appropriate link at the site...for "Cinnamon Love" is now available, now online.....

2003-10-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Metaphysical Rock

I was struck by a bolt of musical lightning yesterday afternoon and put together the first bits of what will become the "Cinnamon Love Song". Unlike the Vanilla love song, this Cinnamon love song will lack a sense of innocence. Originally I had planned on grouping my songs into two categories in a tribute to William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience...but I may hold off on that idea until a future CD.....

2003-10-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon Reprised

I've decided instead to work on a song called "This Free Love", and then on to the next Tarot Card Major Arcana song, "The Moon". These are turbulent, crazy times, and I feel like there are so many projects to embark upon, avenues to explore, songs to write....

2003-10-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

"The Sun" Makes The Charts

This just in: "The Sun" has made its debut on Austria's Easy Listening chart at 57. Never underestimate the power of the Tarot.....

By the way, I had mentioned on the site some months back that I was working on a series of healing songs, but then said nothing more about the project. For the record, "The Sun" is in fact one of those healing songs, but I chose not to publicize it at the time. And I disagree with many who assert that only ambient instrumentals qualify as healing songs, offering this song as evidence.

2003-10-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon

The next song in this Tantric Rainbow series, the fourth Vanilla Song, will be entitled "Heroin Mary". I'll also be releasing the semi-final version of "This Vanilla Love Song", with a new alternate-universe ending.

2003-10-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Linear Song

The Linear Song, which all three of the tracks available on this site represent, is based on the following principles:

1. Songs are overly repetitious. Usually when you've heard the first 30 seconds, you've pretty much heard it all. With the Linear Song, you haven't heard it until you've heard ALL of it.

2. Repetition is discouraged, though some repetition is permissible. While I may repeat a lyric line, I will alter the music line or the vocal line.

3. Song lengths will become shorter, but more intense, more creative.

4. Contrary to popular opinion, a song without repetition can indeed be catchy, can indeed be memorable, can indeed have a hook.

NEWS: The three tracks are now hitting the charts at mp3charts.com, besonic.com, and contactmusic.com. Here at the Vanilla Shack we are committed to experiment, progress, and general mayhem....in time I hope to move to a bigger Shack, where a whole community of us can make music, write, publish, and change everything that's sacred, question everything that's accepted, break every rule by improving on it.

2003-10-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

This Vanilla Love Song Online -- Beta Version

"This Vanilla Love Song", minus the harmonies and with a surprise ending -- that is, the ending comes as a surprise-- is now online. The final version will appear within the next couple of days. This tune is fairly mainstream, but it too is pretty linear, and features a vocal line painting a riff-chord rhythm.

2003-10-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

Lyrics: Tantric Rainbows

Frost and darkness
Cover the land
But take me down to where
We can synthesize a dream of love,
Tantric rainbows.

Sand and grass beneath me,
Unsheath me,
As I look for you,
My tantric love.

Love,
You can drive me,
I can move you,
We can change the air we breathe,
Subtle energy
Body chemistry,
You can move me,
I can drive you....

Just a little sun
And the energy to move,
Just the two of us
Wrapped together in a room,
Burning slowly
Across the colors of the air,
Love like diamonds
Casting starlight everywhere,
Everywhere.

I am yours,
You are mine,
Both of our energies
Pulse in tantric time,
Tantric time......

*******Thanks to Jarvis for his intro vocals*********

2003-10-06T04:02:00.000-07:00

Musical Notes

I should note at this point that the two songs are, as with everything else Vanilla, works in progress. I'm refining the sound, the mixing, the distortion, and as I make improvements I will replace the MP3s with better-quality MP3s. The Vanilla Studios is young, a fledgling, a pet project just getting off the ground. Keep checking back for higher-grade versions.

As for songs, the next will be "The Vanilla Love Song", which will be a little more orthodox as far as song structure goes.

2003-10-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

"Tantric Rainbows" Now Online

The second Vanilla Song, a linear piece called "Tantric Rainbows", is now available in MP3 format from the site.

I'm re-converting "The Sun" to a higher-grade MP3, so bear with me.....a better-sounding version should be up by the time you read this....

2003-09-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

"The Sun" Lyrics

Dawn light
Gray and red
From within the sunlight fills your head

Force field
Radiant from above
Sets your soul to tune into
The energies of Love.

Weightless dream
Of space and time
Lets your light create, intensify and shine.

Spirit lamp,
This candle burns,
Meditating waves of warmth
I forge ahead, to seek, to learn....

Chakra sparks
From the body's frame
Flash to mind's outward arc,
Burst into flame,
Warms the world around one soul's domain.

Saving you
Saves part of me.
Let's become the Sun,
Forever,
A dynamo of energy.....

Radiant Love,
That must be you,
The Soul-Mate I've been searching for
To re-energize me, make me new.
If you give me light,
I'll be by your side,
And we'll override the circuits of rage, of war,
We'll paint the Sun on every door,
We'll walk the beach of every shore.

To be immortal
Is but an act of Love,
To be in Love is to live forever.
When you radiate your light, you illuminate the world.
When you radiate your light, you illuminate my world,
The Sun......

2003-09-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

The First Vanilla Song Online

"The Sun" is now available in MP3 format via the site. I'll probably tweak it more, perhaps even modify the spacey vocals. If you have any comments, feel free to drop me a line at sassure@hotmail.com with your remarks and/or suggestions. Be sure to make the subject line The Sun, as I get so much spam nowadays I have to apply some pretty Draconian filters.

And now, on to "Tantric Rainbows".....which will be an entirely different experience.

2003-09-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

Update

I'm still mixing and filtering......just a few days more, but so far the song is coming out as I had planned....then on to the generational anthem, "Tantric Rainbows".

2003-09-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

The Sun

Soon I'll make the first of the Vanilla Songs, "The Sun", available from the main site. For many years I've been working on a project to create a song for each of the Tarot's major arcana. Having already written "The Lovers", "The Magician", "The Wheel of Fortune", "The Tower", and "The Star", I have now finally added "The Sun". Perhaps the chaotic, apocalyptic nature of the world has had something to do with it....or it may be what happened to me last July....or it may be both.

Expect "The Sun" to be online, in MP3 format, by the weekend...after the final mixing is wrapped up.

2003-09-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Musical Projects

I'm at present working on a new song, "Tantric Rainbows", that will encapsulate what I see as a possible new direction for music. When it's completed, I'll make it a freely downloadable MP3 from the main Vanilla World View site.

Some other songs that are in the works are "The Vanilla Love Song" and "The Moment A Revolution Begins".

For a time I was too engrossed in the Cinnamon Love Dialogues and practical immortality to have much time for the creation of music. But the time to finally get the CD put together is fast approaching, and it looks like I'll be able -- at last -- to finish something I've been planning for years.....

2003-09-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

The God Quandary

Why is it that bad things happen to good people? We ask ourselves this question time and again, finding the whole situation incomprehensible.

Perhaps we are putting too much of the burden on God, when we should be using the God force that is within us to further the overall Spiritual Plan.

One of the pitfalls of religion, and one which we should all be urged to avoid, is what I call the God Quandary:

1. You believe in God.
2. You believe that God is omnipotent, all-powerful
3. Because God is all-powerful, you depend on God for protection
4. Leaning on faith, you become passive
5. Being passive, your Will and Personal Energy are weak, ineffective.
6. With a weak Will and Personal Energy, you are prey to outside forces. Instead of more protection, your belief has resulted in your having less protection.
7. After a few personal crises, and after even more suffering, you stop believing in God.

Sound familiar?

2003-09-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

The Dialogue Of Romance

After what has seemed a mini-eternity, The Cinnamon Love Dialogues are reaching completion. I just put together The Dialogue of Romance, a 14-page journey through seascapes, beaches, and words of love between two people who are hopelessly, obsessively in love.

The photographs are not small, by any means. I want them, along with the lovers' words, to engulf the reader, to take the reader to a place far off, a place where you can watch your future passing, like a freighter bound for Valparaiso, as it hovers at the edge of sunset on a tranquil ocean.

But this is just the start. The Dialogue of Passion is up next......but of course we have to have the bittersweet with the sweet. There will be the Dialogue of Regret as well. Starting off the festivities will be the Dialogue of Introduction, and there will be others as well.

2003-09-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Next Step In Human Evolution

I'm reminded of that effective ad slogan for the ANCF: "A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste". The energy construct that we call human intelligence is an evolutionary step forward, but it is only one step in a series of steps that will go beyond what most of us can imagine.

In a way, the idea of Metaphysics itself is an evolutionary step forward -- it's the moment when human intelligence, realizing that it is too valuable to waste, begins to wonder about purpose, about the limits of our scientific knowledge, about forms of energy we can sense but cannot measure. We logically wonder about our ability to endure after death.

But so far we've been playing a passive game. The next step for us metaphysically is to switch from a passive game to an active game. We have to stop worrying about whether we "endure" after death and start planning on how we can PERSIST after death. Human Will, like Human Intelligence, is also a terrible thing to waste. And we've been wasting it long enough....

For example, we can WILL ourselves to stay healthy...to a point, of course. We can WILL ourselves to live 30, 40, 50 years beyond today's human life span....perhaps a whole lot longer than that. Most, however, prefer to believe that "life sucks, and then you die." In that case, your life sucks, and you will die....a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Combine human intelligence, human will, science, medicine, and what little we know about the spirit world, and you're looking at what may well be the next giant step in evolution. We are not merely energy constructs -- we are energy generators, energy dynamos...perhaps even Spiritual Energy Synthesizers. It's part of what George Bernard Shaw called Conscious Evolution, but few paid enough attention to what he said, possibly because he let his Socialist leanings pepper what he wrote...

When we decide to use the power of the Human Will and the power of the Human Mind to enhance ourselves physically and spiritually -- instead of building nuclear weapons and gunning each other down -- then we will collectively move forward at warp speed. But right now it's just a few of us, a very miserable few of us....

2003-09-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Spirit Candle

Recently I read about a long-term series of manifestations that took place in a country house in the UK. At first the apparition, that of a young woman, was bright, almost luminous...then, as the years passed, the apparition became dimmer and dimmer until, a couple of years ago, the spectre was barely visible.

I'm not so much concerned with the validity of this "haunting"...but the whole business really made me think about a spirit's persistence after death.

A spirit may be like the flame of a candle: it has form and it gives off light, but like any other energy-utilizing phenomenon, it may run down if its battery gets low. While we are alive, we are in essence "charging our spirit batteries" so that, when our physical bodies finally crap out, our spiritual essences will live on.
But what happens to those whose spirits have little or no charge when they die? And for those whose "batteries" are highly charged, how long will their spirits persist?

Which brings up another issue: if a disembodied spirit can find a source that can be used to "recharge", then theoretically that spirit can endure forever, or at least as long as the source holds out. What enables a spirit to tap into the "divine ground" to continually recharge itself? And what can we, the living, do to keep this divine force strong and sustaining?

It's at this point that we turn to the religions that we've developed to this point, hoping to find the way to "make the connection" with this Divine Ground, this God Force, this Ubiquitous Spirit Battery.....

2003-09-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

The Latin Future

Everyone knows about the recall brouhaha in California, but it seems that all I hear about is how bad Gray Davis is, or how cool it would be to have the Terminator Schwarzenegger as governor. But what does California really need?

For the past two decades the Hispanic population in the U.S. has been steadily growing, but as yet Latinos haven't really made themselves known -- except perhaps in the music field, or in the movies. All of that is about to change. The Latinos are now the dominant minority in the U.S., and it's only a matter of time before their children grow up and, as adults, assert themselves politically and culturally.

With the world in a crisis of terrorism, corruption, bankruptcy, power outages, and military aggression, some serious changes are just over the horizon.

And those changes may start with the election of the next governor of California, especially if his name is Bustamante.....

2003-08-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Practical Immortality

Since the mid-20th century, we Westerners have been fascinated by meditation. I've seen so many meditation books and manuals that emphasize controlled breathing, total relaxation, and/or a focusing on the Inner Light. But many of these books and manuals leave out an important component, and that is Positive Personal Energy.

Sure, you can close your eyes and visualize a Light, but that doesn't mean you can use it in a dark closet.

A light won't shine without electricity, and the same applies to your Inner Light. You have to "manifest" a Joyous Energy within before that Inner Light will do any shining.

And when it shines, this Light will do more than simply Heal. It will Renew......

And renewal is what true Practical Immortality depends on, more than any other factor.

Medicines are useful, yes. But if you fix your parts only after they've broken down, you won't last all that much longer. For this reason, I respectfully disagree with Longevity Enthusiasts who continually rely on doctors for their sole source of inspiration, for their progress.

The Immortality coin has two sides, after all. Attending to merely the physical, while neglecting the spiritual, adds nothing more than a few years to your life, whereas attending to both can add decades......or even more.

2003-08-15T04:14:00.000-07:00

The Greatest Power Outage In History

You'll soon see the headlines, and they won't be reassuring.

I've been predicting this kind of chaos since last summer, when I published The Vanilla World View and started up its supporting Website, but the reality is still unsettling.

Massive incompetence, a neglected craptacular power grid, the threat of terror, and a highly disruptive computer worm all have a role to play, though the authorities will try and simplify matters to prevent a nationwide panic. But when you read one conflicting report after another, you really won't be so sure of anything. Even as I write now, people are sleeping in the streets, many cities are power-dark, and millions have just experienced the feeling of homelessness...

What's so unsettling is that when a house of cards comes down, it doesn't come down just part-way -- that means that more is coming, more chaos, more uncertainty, more upheaval. It's time to slow down, plant both feet on the ground, and think more about what you can do to plan for the rocky road ahead...
__________________

2003-08-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Rock The Meditation: Lesson 37

LESSON GOAL: The goal of this session is to clarify your relationship energies, to tap into your subconscious, and to retrieve either a soul-level message concerning a current relationship, or to retrieve a symbolic event that may have to be interpreted -- as if it were a dream -- in order to generate a meaning, an application, a clear reading. Some have reported being given prophetic messages, even omens of the future, but such occurrences cannot always be relied upon. Let me know what your experience is at sassure@hotmail.com.

For this exercise you'll need three songs:
1. Feeder - "The Child In You"
2. Folk Implosion - "Easy"
3. CPR - "Time Is The Final Currency"

As the first song begins, close your eyes and imagine yourself on a hillside, a place with a sweeping view of the ocean, with an island situated just offshore. You are not alone...there are two others with you, one a good friend, the other a good friend of the opposite sex. All three of you are heading down the side of the hill, down towards the ocean's edge. There is someone waiting for you at the bottom of the hill, but you can't make out his face quite yet.

When the second song starts, you finally begin to make out the face of the individual who has been waiting for you at the bottom of the hill. He will attempt to communicate with you -- note well what he's trying to tell you. You will now notice that it's beginning to get dark, that clouds are beginning to appear in the sky. Now you and this mystery figure must go back up to the top of the hill.

As the final song begins, both of you have arrived at the top of the hill, and it is at this point that the mystery person tells you something about that member of the opposite sex who is now waiting for you at the bottom of the hill. When you have been given this message, then it's time to go back down to the ocean's edge and talk to this person of the opposite sex. When you get to the ocean's edge, he/she will approach you, and will then tell you something about a relationship you are currrently having, and what needs to be done to improve that relationship.

Now the sky will clear...the moon will come out...and both of you will walk into the ocean, getting yourselves wet...

(It helps if you like Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young...but not essential)

2003-08-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Soul Cleansing At Moss Glen Falls

I just returned from a week in the Green Mountains of Vermont, especially the Stowe area, where a group of us hiked to Moss Glen Falls for a bit of "open door" meditation.

Coming up over a rise after a twenty-minute mild climb, one is surprised by the size and power of these Falls, but at the same time one is instantly buoyed inside by the waves of sound, and the rush of fresh air against one's face.

Without jargon, without preconceived rules and instructions, we simply allowed our mind valves to open and "drink in" the energy emanating from these Falls. Asked whether there should be any special mantra, chant, or visual cues, I replied that the only focus should be the Falling Water, the sound of the Falling Water, the energy of the Falling Water.

We also tried a bit of meditative triangulation: one closes one's eyes, then visualizes three points -- the mind, the body, and the Falls. These three points are then activated as a sort of triangular energy conduit, flushing away what is negative, ponderous, bitter, and bringing in what is light, buoyant, positive, power-generating.

We explored areas around Ripton, Morrisville, and Waterbury, but we found the Stowe area to be where we achieved the most desirable results.

2003-08-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

Rock The Meditation

In an effort to bring meditation into the 21st century, I've been creating a series of lessons, entitled Rock The Meditation, that use contemporary music as a background for meditation exercises. Sure, Sanskrit chanting is fine...even Gregorian Chant is fine. But there should be no limits to what can be used as music when one is opening the spirit or cleansing the soul.